


Powerless (But Strong)

by swanqueenfic13



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 15:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9554855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanqueenfic13/pseuds/swanqueenfic13
Summary: “Let’s go, Kara, come on. Let’s get you home,” Alex whispers. It’d been a bad day. Kara had solar flared after fighting a gang of aliens only to go into her favorite Chinese restaurant to pick up takeout and end up a hostage in a robbery. There’s a girl behind the counter trying to explain that she can’t open a register unless there’s a purchase but he’s waving the gun in her face. Kara was exhausted, powerless and weak. But she still tried to stand up for this girl. She tried to stall the man while waiting for the cops to arrive.He shot her anyway.Or: When Kara has a bad night, she needs her big sister and her big sister's girlfriend to help her feel normal again





	

**Author's Note:**

> I did include the trigger warning because while I don't really describe the violence in detail, it's better safe than sorry since I really don't want to trigger anyone. Anyway, enjoy!

“Let’s go, Kara, come on. Let’s get you home,” Alex whispers. It’d been a bad day. Kara had solar flared after fighting a gang of aliens only to go into her favorite Chinese restaurant to pick up takeout and end up a hostage in a robbery. There’s a girl behind the counter trying to explain that she can’t open a register unless there’s a purchase but he’s waving the gun in her face. Kara was exhausted, powerless and weak. But she still tried to stand up for this girl. She tried to stall the man while waiting for the cops to arrive. 

He shot her anyway. 

He shot her and it gave Kara the adrenaline boost she needed to kickstart her powers. She lunged forward to try and grab the bullet but it was too late and all she managed to do was get covered in the girl’s blood. She dimly heard the man grabbing the cash from the open register and running away but she couldn’t be bothered to move, just held the girl as she died.

When the police came, they found her still hugging the girl’s lifeless body.

 

Maggie was the one who called Alex. She hadn’t been on the scene but she was listening to her police scanner while on her way to Alex’s apartment and overheard the name Danvers. She sped off to the scene to find Kara staring into space, her face and shirt covered in blood. She held Kara’s hand, trying to get the girl to speak or respond while they waited for Alex to arrive. 

“Thank you for calling, Mags. Is she good to go? Has she given her statement?” Alex says softly. Kara just grips her hand tightly.

“Let me go check.” Maggie goes to talk to the officer in charge of the scene. When she returns, she gives Kara and Alex a tight smile. “We can go.”

“Alright, let’s go home, Kara.” Maggie loves the tender way Alex speaks to her sister. The way she lets Kara cling to her hand as she leads her to the car. She knows Kara is Supergirl (really, it had only taken two weeks of dating Alex for her to figure it out- her disguise is a pair of glasses and a ponytail), but she looks so small right now. She’s taller than Alex but she walks with her head down, shoulders hunched and drawn in on herself. She looks so much smaller, so much younger right now. Maggie follows since Kara is clinging to her other hand, helping to get Kara situated in the front seat of Alex’s car.

“We can hang out tomorrow?” Maggie whispers, going to kiss Alex goodbye. 

“No!” Kara yelps. When Maggie leans down to look into the car she realizes Kara’s lower lip is trembling. “Don’t go, Maggie,” she begs. Maggie looks to Alex.

“C’mon. I think she needs you there, too,” Alex whispers. Maggie smiles.

“Can I ride my bike there, little Danvers?” she asks gently, not taking her eyes off Alex.

“Mmhmm,” Kara hums as though she’s afraid to speak.

“Okay, then I’ll see you there.”

 

Thanks to the speed of her bike, Maggie gets to Alex’s apartment a few minutes early. She lets herself in with her key and starts by getting out a beer for her and Alex and making hot cocoa for Kara. She orders a few pizzas from her phone app before Alex and Kara are coming through the front door. Kara still clings to Alex’s hand like a lifeline. 

“My two favorite girls,” Maggie says warmly. She kisses Alex’s cheek before going to squeeze Kara’s shoulders. “Hey, Kar, I ordered some food. Is that alright?” Kara nods and Maggie sees her eyes welling with tears.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and in pajamas,” Alex says quickly, leading her to the bathroom. Maggie hesitates, unsure of whether she should follow but Kara glances over her shoulder at Maggie, eyes watering and lip trembling and mouths  _ please _ and she follows immediately. Kara sits on the edge of the tub, crying freely now as Alex wets a washcloth to clean the blood splatter from her face. Maggie knees next to her, taking her hands.

“I c-couldn’t s-save her,” Kara sniffles. “I was  _ right there _ .”

“Kara,” Alex says gently, wringing out the cloth before kneeling next to Maggie and starting to gently wipe Kara’s face. The salty tears and soapy water mix, running pink down her cheeks. “Kara, you had solar flared. You didn’t have your powers. There was nothing you could do,” Alex reminds her. Maggie just squeezed her hands tight.

Maggie remembered the first time she failed to save a hostage. She watched the young man- his name was Gary Robertson, she’ll never forget it- as he bled out on the ground. But there were three other hostages so Maggie couldn’t give herself up to go help him. It hurt like hell. A small part of Maggie never really recovered from that. And every time she lost someone on the job, every time she couldn’t save them, she lost a small piece of herself.

“Kara, I know,” Maggie whispers. As Alex continues to wipe her face clean, Maggie keeps reassuring her. “I’ve got you. You did what you could. We’re here. You’re okay. I understand. It wasn’t your fault. It  _ wasn’t _ your fault. Kara Zor-El Danvers, this was  _ not your fault _ .”

By the time her face is clean from blood, Kara is sobbing in earnest. Alex pulled Kara into her arms, onto her lap and rocked her back and forth, humming softly. Maggie didn’t really know what to do with herself. She’d never had younger siblings, only her older brothers and they’d never cried like this (at least not in front of her). But Maggie knew Kara. She knew Kara thrived on contact with others. The girl gave Maggie a hug mere seconds after giving her the whole “I could throw you into space if you hurt my sister” talk ( _ I just didn’t want you to be too sad, _ she had defended- nevermind that Maggie pointed out that was the  _ point _ of shovel talks). 

So, Maggie knew Kara. She knew what would likely help her. She tapped on Alex’s hand to get her attention. Alex shifted slightly so that her chin was resting on Kara’s shoulder and she could make eye contact with Maggie.  _ Can I? _ Maggie mouthed, miming a hug. Alex beamed and Alex’s heart swelled and Alex rolled her eyes before grabbing Maggie’s hand and tugging her forward so that she fell into the group hug. Maggie hugged Kara’s back, sandwiching her between the two of them and she swore she could feel Kara sag into the touch.

After a while, Alex spoke again.

“Kara, do you want to take a real shower before we go to bed?” Her voice is still soft, still gentle.

“Nuh-uh,” Kara whimpers, shaking her head. Maggie is reminded of a scared toddler and she hugs Kara tighter.

“Okay, well then I’m gonna wash your hair in the sink, okay? We need to… we need to wash this stuff out, okay?”  _ We need to wash the blood out. _ It goes unsaid but Kara stiffens. “Let’s wiggle right over here.” Maggie shifts to allow Alex to direct them. She gets up on her knees, pulling at Kara until she’s leaning against the edge of the tub. While Maggie stands to grab the detachable showerhead and bring the shampoo closer, Alex tugs off Kara’s sweater. While it had once been a simple cream sweater that Kara wore often, not it was stained with blood that Maggie and Alex knew from experience wouldn’t come out. Even though she couldn’t get cold, Kara seemed to shiver so Maggie wrapped a towel around her shoulders.

“Tilt your head back, Kara,” Maggie whispers. Alex holds her hands, kissing her knuckles and rubbing circles on her palm. She hums a Kryptonese lullaby that she learned from Kara when she first arrived. Maggie turns on the water and rinses Kara’s hair, soaking it thoroughly. The water is just barely tinged pink but Maggie gets out the shampoo anyway. Hopefully the familiar scent of her sister’s flower-scented shampoo (alright, so Alex was a badass but she still liked to smell nice- is that so wrong?) might help calm Kara.

Maggie uses her nails, scratching lightly at Kara’s scalp as she goes. Her nails are short but Kara hums and leans back further so Maggie takes it as a win. When Maggie rinses out the shampoo and moves to put in conditioner, Alex switches from humming to singing and Maggie feels her heart ache. Because she doesn’t understand the words but Alex’s voice is haunting and beautiful and it shakes with emotion and it’s then that Maggie realizes both Alex and Kara are crying.

Kara’s hair is thick and it takes time to wash out all of the conditioner but when it’s done her shoulders are noticeably less tense. Maggie and Alex switch positions so that Alex can comb Kara’s hair through and put it in two braids while Maggie sits on the floor with her, whispering more reassurances.

“Can we leave you to get dressed?” Alex asks softly once they’ve moved to Alex’s bed. Kara sits on the edge, chewing on her lip and she crosses her arms in front of her stomach, leaning over as if trying to protect herself.

“I… I can get dressed, I just…” Kara trails off helplessly. 

“You don’t want to be alone,” Alex supplies, glancing nervously at Maggie. They’re still only a few months into the relationship. Maggie has seen Kara have bad nights as Supergirl. She’s seen her cry and mourn the loss of innocents but she hasn’t seen Kara this…  _ broken _ \- even Alex hasn’t, not for years. Alex is afraid she’ll get scared away.

“Okay,” Maggie responds warmly, surprising Alex. She smiles, kisses Kara’s cheek before turning to grab a pair of pajamas from what she’s deemed the ‘Kara drawer’. They’re soft, red and blue striped pants with pictures of cats on the shirt. “So we’ll stay. And we’ll put on soft pajamas and we can eat something and we can all snuggle up and go to bed,” she decides. There’s a knock at the door. “That should be the pizza. Alex, why don’t you stay with Kara and I’ll go get that. I can bring it right in here so we can eat.” She winks, ruffling Kara’s hair (carefully so as not to completely ruin Alex’s careful, precise braids) on her way out.

When she returns toting four large pizzas, with paper plates and drinks balanced precariously on top of the boxes, Alex and Kara are both seated on the bed in pajamas.

“My two favorite girls,” Maggie beams, letting the boxes and things bounce on the mattress. The edges of Kara’s mouth quirk up in the first smile Maggie and Alex have seen all night. “You look cozy. I guess I better change, huh?” While she switches from jeans and her blouse to boxer shorts and a loose gray t-shirt, Alex and Kara start in on the pizzas. Kara has finished one whole pizza before Maggie can even blink.

They eat in silence but Kara’s eyes are slowly closing, becoming heavier the more she relaxes. Alex and Maggie are still eating when she lies back against the pillows and closes her eyes, falling sound asleep. Alex watches her for a minute, rests her hand on Kara’s for a moment before turning to smile at Maggie.

“Thank you for staying. And I’m sorry our date night got-”

“Don’t be sorry, Danvers,” Maggie interrupts with a warm smile. “Family comes first.” Kara shifts on the bed, curling into the fetal position. Her hand moves up, curling into a loose fist and resting her thumb on the tip of her mouth. “Is she always- does it hurt her like this every time?” Maggie’s free hand idly runs through Kara’s hair. She knows Kara is the girl of steel but she doesn’t see how this girl can walk around with all of this pain in her heart. 

“I’ve never… Normally, she knows that she did everything she could. She’s got her powers and that helps her to save so many people, to be there quicker than anyone else. But this time, she was there. She was there but she didn’t have her powers because she had a solar flare. And then when she got them back, it was too late. She still couldn’t save the girl. I think that makes her feel more useless than anything else because she was right there and she had her powers and she still couldn’t do anything,” Alex explains softly, eyes never leaving Kara, watching for the slightest hint of a nightmare:  a wrinkled brow, a trembling lip, a harsh inhale. “When she feels helpless like that, I think it reminds her of Krypton because she couldn’t do anything, she just had to watch her whole world explode.” 

“You’re such a good sister,” Maggie whispers reverently. Because she loves her siblings but Alex has this fierce protectiveness, this need to keep her safe from harm and push her towards greatness. Her whole face lights up, it softens and the lines of age and hardship fall away as Alex talks about Kara. Maggie doesn’t think it’s the same for her and her siblings. Because she loves them, of course, but Kara is Alex’s whole world.

“Well, I wasn’t always,” Alex says softly, her gazing dropping for a moment. “I was terrible to Kara at first. She was weird and my parents paid more attention to her and I was resentful and moody and surly and I took it out on her.”

“You were just a kid,” Maggie defends. “The point is you got better. You grew up.” They sit in silence for a minute, just chewing their food and watching Kara’s chest rise and fall with sleep.

“You’re really good with her too. And I really do want to thank you for doing this- for taking care of her. I know Kara can be a lot-”

“I love you,” Maggie blurts out. She had been meaning to say that for ages now. Her intention had been to say it over a nice dinner tonight but, well, plans changed and here she is. Watching Alex and starting to panic as she doesn’t answer. So Maggie starts to ramble a little bit. “I love you, Alex. And you don’t have to say it back. But you’re so kind and so sweet but also so tough and you care so much about everyone and you’re damn good at your job. And I love how much you love your little sister and I love her too. In a different way. Like a kid sister. Which is nice because I’m the baby of my family so I never knew how to take care of a younger sibling but I really like it and I love you and I love your sister and I just- I wanted you to know.” She forces herself to stop there, biting her lip.

“God, I love you too, Maggie,” Alex breathes before she surges forward to kiss her. And it would have been deeper, longer, slower. It might have led to something more if Kara hadn’t been curled up like a cat and starting to tremble in her sleep. So Maggie pulls away and Alex goes to move the leftover pizza (“it’s rare that Kara leaves leftovers,” she notes with a small smile). And Maggie curls up next to Kara, curving into her. She kisses her cheek and holds her hands and feels Kara’s breathing slow beneath her. Alex settles in on the other side of Kara, again sandwiching her in the middle.

“Night Sawyer,” Alex says, kissing Maggie’s knuckle after she’s turned off the light.

“Night Danvers.” She kisses Alex’s palm then shifts to kiss Kara’s hairline. “Night Little Danvers.” She falls asleep quickly, feeling safe and warm and feeling very much _ at home _ .

**Author's Note:**

> I want to thank you guys for being patient. My semester just started a few weeks ago and I'm readjusting to being busy all the time. And on top of that, I've been dealing with a nasty stomach bug for the past few days. To reward your patience, I have decided to update all of my fics. Enjoy!


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